Not there yet

After decades of tweaking you would think that the GPDO might have achieved near-perfection, such that only good quality design would escape the need for planning permission. Not so, sadly, as a recent appeal case in east London indicates (DCS Number 400-017-938).

The inspector found that “the dormer would appear as a dominant and disproportionate addition, which would sit awkwardly against the modest scale of the host roof” and “As such the scale, position and bulk of the dormer would unbalance the appearance of the host dwelling and would be conspicuously at odds with the largely simple and generally unaltered roof-scape…. “

The inspector concluded that the scale and position of the proposed rear dormer would be harmful to the character and appearance of the host building and the locality and consequently contrary to development plan policy. He recorded that Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 states that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Accordingly, he decided that “The ability and likelihood that within the permitted development rights in the GPDO a very similarly positioned and scaled rear dormer could be constructed with comparable effect on the character and appearance of the locality, is a material consideration. In this instance it signals a determination other than in accordance with the adopted development plan and consequently, the appeal succeeds.”

Oh dear.

Permitted development as a fallback position in house extension proposals is covered at section 12.233 of DCP Online.

A "net health gain" principle should be embedded in national planning policy to ensure that new developments do not contribute to the problem of air pollution, a report by government agency Public Health England has recommended.

The government's Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which sets the policy framework for the expansion of Heathrow airport, should be "set aside and reconsidered" if it is found to be legally flawed, the High Court has been told on the first day of a legal challenge against the airport's expansion.

Plans have been approved for 1,500 homes on an employment site in Salford Quays, including a tower of up to 46 storeys, after officers concluded the development would not compromise neighbouring employment uses.

Plans have been approved for a mixed-use scheme with over 1,100 homes on a site currently used as a retail park off London's Old Kent Road, after planners concluded that the scheme's negative impacts, including the loss of retail space, would be compensated for by "major regeneration benefits".

The government has said it will "robustly defend" itself against a legal challenge which is seeking to have the approval for the expansion of Heathrow airport sent back to Parliament for reconsideration, as the case opens at the High Court today.

The High Court has upheld an inspector's ruling that the size of an area of hard-standing at a fencing company's yard in Surrey was so far in excess of what was required by a building on the site as to render it not ancillary to the building.